IS seizes ancient town of Palmyra

IS seizes ancient town of Palmyra

BEIRUT

Islamic State extremists captured the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra after government defense lines there collapsed Wednesday, a stunning triumph for the group only days after it captured the strategic city of Ramadi in Iraq.

It was unclear by nightfall how close to Palmyra’s famed archaeological site the militants had advanced, activists said, adding that Syrian soldiers were seen fleeing the area.

The ruins at Palmyra are one of the world’s most renowned historic sites and there were fears the extremists would destroy them as they did major archaeological sites in Iraq. The UNESCO world heritage site is famous for its 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades and other ruins and priceless artifacts. Before the war, thousands of tourists a year visited the remote desert outpost, a cherished landmark referred to by Syrians as the “Bride of the Desert.”

Calif. drought order

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Regulators are ordering farmers with California’s oldest water rights to stop pumping from the San Joaquin River watershed for the first time in memory.

State water-board engineer Kathy Mrowka told a public drought hearing that the curtailment orders will be sent to so-called senior rights holders Friday.

The mandatory conservation orders for rights holders with century-old claims to rivers and streams will be the first anywhere in the state since the 1970s. They would be the first in memory to senior water-rights holders along the San Joaquin River.

Israeli PM cancels bus segregation

JERUSALEM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday canceled a plan that would have banned Palestinian laborers from riding on the same buses with Jewish settlers in the West Bank, just hours after it was announced — an embarrassing about-face that reflected the tensions enveloping Israel’s new government.

The inauspicious start for Netanyahu’s hard-line government illustrated the difficulties that loom as it tries to advance a pro-settler agenda in the face of rising global outrage and domestic criticism.

The reversal came as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, was in town. The EU has taken a tough stance against settlements built on lands claimed by the Palestinians.

Obama: Climate change puts US at risk

NEW LONDON, Conn.

President Barack Obama has argued for action on climate change as a matter of health, environmental protection and international obligation. On Wednesday, he added national security.

Those who deny global warming are putting at risk the United States and the military sworn to defend it, he told cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Failure to act would be “dereliction of duty,” their commander in chief said.

He said climate change and rising sea levels jeopardize the readiness of U.S. forces and threaten to aggravate social tensions and political instability around the globe.

Woman gets 24 years for fatal subway push

NEW YORK

A woman who admitted shoving a Hindu man off a New York City subway platform to his death in an attack motivated by religious animus has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Erika Menendez was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter for killing Sunando Sen in December 2012 in Queens.

According to the complaint, the 33-year-old Queens woman told police she did it because she has hated Muslims and Hindus since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Associated Press